Textile fabric



@et 18, 1932, E. FREEDMAN ET Al.. 1,883,678

TEXTILE FABRIC Filed Nov. 24. 1930 Ill l l l lill illlill Mnl IH mil 1 x l i l gwuewtow.

.EPH/WM FRfEDM/N ,400m JAEMU ERNEST J. 6 456/,

atto/cna? Patented Oct. 18 1932 v,UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Y EPHRATM EREEDMAN, OE BROOKLYN, NEW'YORK,y ADOLE JAEKLI, OE NORTH BERGEN,

NEW JERSEY, AND ERNEs'i` J. GNAEGI, OE. NEW YORK, N. Y.,AssTGNORs To R. H. MACY a co., INO.,OE NEW YORK, N. Y., Ay CORPORATION OE NEwA YORK v TEXTILEl FABRIC A Application mea November 24, 1930. serial No. 437,742.

yThel present invention relates to waterproofed fabrics and a method of making the same, and consists in the novel steps of procedure in manufacture, and in the combinations and arrangements of elements Vformed into the fabric as hereinafter described and particularly set forth in the accompanying claims.

The disclosure herein is specifically directed tofa fabric for umbrellas but it willbe understood this is illustrative only as the fabric is equally well adapted for other uses.

The invention has for its purpose to produce a pure "dye orv unweighted silk fabricv composed ofv a grege silk warp and a spun silk filling having all the qualities required for umbrella coverings vand in addition other qualities or improved characteristics.

Weighted silk umbrella materials as now producedY are deficient in the amount of silk inthe fabric, besides which, and becauseof which,they have poor tensile strength, slip readily, show poor resistance to abrasion, de teriorate rapidly and lastly-offer very poor resistance to rain. Even the best pure dye or unweighted silk umbrella materialsr at present available are not only too costlybut they possess numerous defects aecting the life and performance of umbrellas" made therefrom.

. Umbrellas have heretofore been made from the following materials either alonev or in combination, to wit: pure dye or unweighted grege silk, weighted silk, cotton, linen, wool, rayon and other fibers. As known, the umbrella, when not in use, is carried folded in as compact a form as practicable and' when Opened the folds stretch out forming' a taut concave covering which is intended to permit the shedding of rain. Due to this compact foldingthe fabric creases at the folds and in the case of weighted silks these creases tend to result in a weakening of the'material so a' that when the sudden strain due to the opening of the umbrella takes place the material rips and tears. `Hygroscopic and thermal changes in the atmosphereA also affect the physical and chemicaly condition of the weighted material in azmanner resulting in rapid disintegration of the material. EX-

posure to the suns rays also causes the rapid deterioration, 'the extent depending upon the intensity of'raysand the time element involved. l

J The high cost of pure dye or unweighted grege. silk makes it impractical topermit'of using that material in quantity sufficient Vto produce a fabric which when manufactured into an umbrella, selling at or below live dollars ($5.00.), will furnish' an adequate degree of protection against rain. And as a means of kcovering up the'inferiority of the 'fabric due to the small amount .of pure dye grege silkused in'umbrellas of this prices quality, the silk material manufactured at the present time is weighted with tin and/or other metallic substances so as to 'cause it to appear heavier, thicker, and more compactly woven than is in fact the case. The pure dye or unweighted grege silk umbrella material now employed is of a smooth texture and more or less close -construction which although oifering poor resistance to rain can, when closely constructed,bemade to perform satisfactorily by` any ofa number of processes rknown as water-proofing. This process naturally increases its Vresistance to rain. Many present pure dye or unweighted silk fabrics, and all. of ythe weighted grege silk umbrella cloths now used in umbrellas ofuthis standard aord but slight resistance to rain in spite ofjtheir being water-proofed, as evidenced' by their actual performance during a` rainfall, and to the passage of water when tested on a hydrostatic pressure apparatus. Apart from the foregoing, an umbrellaiis properly required to possess certain qualities or characteristics, to wit: It should be light and strong although at the present time no lower limits of either weight or strength are specified.' It must have ample strength in all directions, especially in the filling direction, lso asl to take up the sudden strain or shock when the umbrella is quickly opened. It must offer good resistance to abrasion. It must oer the maximum resistance from the standpoint ofdeterioration when subjected tohygroscopic and thermal changes in the ...A atmosphere, and it must possess a vqualityv to resist the deteriorating action of the suns rays.

We have discovered that the defects indicated may be overcome and the desired qualities enumerated may be obtained to a high degree by constructing the fabric with a specially processed filling yarn. Heretofore y pure dye or unweighted silk, and weighted silk umbrella materials have beenV made of taflfeta and other-weaves wherein the warp and filling threads were made of grege silk filaments spun on the various types of silk spinning machinery. Each of these grege silk filaments ranges in some instances up to one thousand (1000) yards in length. ln accordance with our invention, however, we employ relatively short lengths of spun silk fiber, ranging up to siX inches (6) in length as opposed to the grege silk lengths used heretofore. In the manufacture Yof our filling thread these fibers are spun on the cotton system, Vproducing a thread, the twist of which simulates that of cotton yarn. These spun silk threads run in the filling direction and are interlaced with the grege silk running in the warp direction to produce the fabric.

Our improved fabric is shown by way of illustration and on a highly magnified scale, in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 shows the present or usual spun silk yarn with its unevenness and fuzziness due to lack of twist and to splicing.

Figure 2 illustrates our improved spun silk yarn showing even diameter and decreased fuzziness because of higher or closer twist, and;

Figure 3 is a development of the fabric made of grege silk pure dye warp and spun silk pure dye filling.

Referring to the construction of fabric in further detail the spun silk yarn t used in the manufacture of filling is especially twisted, single plied or multiple yarn, and having a minimum of twelve turns to the inch. Heretofore the use of spun silk has not been considered as being advisable in the manufacture of materials for use in the making of umbrellas or umbrella. coverings, because of the nonuniformity of the yarn, the fuzziness incidental to its spinning and the diameter of the yarn itself. Because of these defects, spun silk as heretofore made would produce a cloth such as, for instance, a taeta, which would have a fuzzy and unclean appearance in the finished material, thus making it wholly undesirable for use. This unsuitable condition isv apparent from an inspectionv of Figure 1 in the accompanying drawing, which shows the strands or fibers 5 united or joined by the splicings 6. The fuzzed condition 7 and nonuniformity of its diameter are clearly evident.

We have discovered that the defects in the cloth as herein set forth may be overcome and the ch aracteristics required for this type of fabric may be attained, to a high degree, by making a continuous spun silk yarn which would require less piecings, knottings or loopings by introducing a special twist which eliminates the fuzziness and results in a uniform and perfect yarn. Andby increasing the size of the yarn itself itforms, in combination with the grege silk warp, a material which produces a uniformly strong and good wearing cloth especially adaptable for use as umbrella material. To that endvthe warp and filling yarns (8 andt) in the ground fabric are interlaced with one another, each warp yarn passing alternately over and under the successive filling yarn, forming a plain or tabby weave. ln this manner a fabric of great strength, density and uniformity in both directions is produced, affording a higher degree of resistance to the passage of rain, a greater ability to shed rain, a greater resistance to hydrostatic pressure, a lesser tendency to slip and a greater resistance to deterioration.

llt will be seen that by using this specially constructed pure dye spun silk filling yarn Ll the fabric produced is considerably stronger, denser, more elastic, less permeable to rain and more resistant to slipping. It is also less prone to deterioration when subjected to the rays of the sunor other atmospheric conditions encountered during the i normal use of umbrella materials than are materials whether constructed in whole or in part of pure dye and/or weighted grege silk. Because of the natural tendency ofV spun silk yarn to spread during the processing of the fabric, the openings or interstices 9 at the crossings of the yarns produce smaller air vents which retard to a much greater degree the influx of water when impinged upon it as occurs during a. downfall of rain than even pure dye or unweighted grege silk fabrics. These openings or interstices 9 are uniformly distributedV and retain their size and are not distorted nor do they slip under the normal strain of the fabric since the nature kof the spun silk yarn permits' it to be compressed in such a manner as to permanently fix the warp threads 8 securely into p osition and thereby practically eliminating slippage.

` rilhis fabric made in accordance with our invention showed under laboratory tests one or more superior' characteristics to the best quality pure dye or unweighted, and weighted grege silk umbrella materials heretofore available. Weight of the fabric is not less than 1.5 ounces per square yard. The resistance of our fabric to the passage of water is considerably greater than that shown by many of the weighted silk, andf many of the all grege silk umbrella materials used in the manufacture of umbrellas, which upon test show a resistance as low as 4 om. Our fabric shows up to four hundred (400') per cent greater resistance to hydrostatic pressure than do all grege silk materials at present employed in umbrellas selling at or less than five dollars ($5.00). The breaking strength of our fabric is in minimum or forty-four pounds in the warp and sixty-five pounds in the filling direction giving an almost fifty per cent greater strength in the filling direction which is considered as novel for umbrella materials where usually the strength of the warp exceeds that of the filling, and where if by chance the filling is stronger than the warp the increase is found to be exceedingly slight. t is understood the foregoing figures as to tests are illustrative only and are not to be taken as limitations. The hy drostatic pressure test herein described is taken from the 1929 Year Book of the American Association of Textile Chemists n and Colorists.

The spun silk yarn used in the manufacture of the umbrella cloth is made of what is known as 7 2/ singles having a twist of thirteen turns or more to the inch. The usual twist given to T2/singles spun silk is nine turns per inch. The decreased fuzziness is due to the special twist of thirteen or more turns per inch which draws the fibers into the yarn. The umbrella fabric itself is composed of two hundred fifteen ends or warp threads and one hundred five picks or filling threads per inch. Of course one may modify the number of warp and/or filling threads and also modify the size or count of the spun silk yarn. Further we may increase at will the number of turns per inch of the'spun silk yarn ranging from thirteen to seventeen turns per inch in single plied or multiple yarns.

It will be understood the filling yarn and the grege silk warp are united into the fabric in the ordinary process of weaving, and the nished product is subjected to any suitable process for water-proofing.

While we have described our invention as more particularly designed for umbrella materials, it is obvious that such fabric possesses valuable qualities for other uses such as for clothing and the like where ventilation, strength and resistance to rain are desirable. Our invention includes such usages. It will further be understood that for the particular purpose herein stated, the fabric will be made entirely of pure dye or unweighted silk, and a further feature of our invention is that it permits the use of less expensive grades of pure silk for umbrella materials suchv as spun silk, not heretofore deemed practical for use Vhaving' not less than twelve twists to the inch to decrease fuzziness, the interstitial area of Vthe fabric being appreciably reduced and closed in the process of weaving, substantially as set forth. .f

2. An umbrella fabric constructed of grege silk warp yarn, and spun silk filling yarn, said filling yarn being of uniform body and having little fuzziness, having not less than twelve or more than seventeen turns to the inch, the interstitial area of the material being thereby substantially reduced and closed by the fuzz of the filling yarn in the process of weaving, substantially as set forth.

3. A water-proof fabric constructed of grege silk warp yarn, and spun silk filling yarn, said filling yarn being uniform and having from thirteen to seventeen twists to the inch to decrease fuzziness, the interstitial area ofthe fabric being appreciably reduced and closed in the process of weaving, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands at New York city, county of New York, and State of New York, this 15th day of November, 1930.

' EPHRAIM FREEDMAN.

ADOLF J AEKLI. ERNEST J. GNAEGI.

in such a fabric although the manner of conf Y struction of the yarn used in the filling of the fabric permits the use of spun silk rather than of grege silk.

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